The Secret Santa Series, Part II : Chloe & Lex
by Ultrawoman
Summary: Cross-Fandom Christmas Series. Part II of IV. Set in Christmas of Season 4. Lex isn't exactly over-joyed to be taking part in Secret Santa at The Talon, at least not until he receives a very special gift... Chlex.


**A/N: Here's a Chlexy little spin on a Season 4 Christmas. This is the second part in a cross-fandom series (with Parts 1, 3, and 4 in Veronica Mars, That 70s Show, and How I Met Your Mother) and I hope you enjoy it! :-)**

**Disclaimer : All recognisable characters belong to DC Comics and Millar Gough Ink, not me!**

The Secret Santa Series, Part II - Chloe & Lex

Lex really wasn't sure how he'd got talked into this. Though he had no particular objection to taking part in an event at the Talon, he did have some issues with being forced to like Christmas. This evening's purpose seemed to be entirely centred around filling him and every other patron with Christmas spirit, which just didn't come naturally for some people. Lex was one of those people, never a particularly religious man and lacking in familial love for most of his life, he had no particular want or need for an event such as Christmas. Still, here he was and he'd done two thirds of his duty - attended the party, and bought the gift for the recipient he'd pulled out of the hat two weeks before.

Secret Santa, it was a quirky little idea that he wasn't altogether sold on but he'd participated nevertheless. One of his staff had been easily dispatched for something suitable for Mandy, the twenty-something waitress who's name had been written on the piece of paper he'd randomly chosen. The part Lex most dreaded perhaps was this, standing around in the coffee house as Martha Kent and Lois Lane handed out brightly wrapped packages to the other willing and unwilling participants of the game, who looked thrilled with whatever they received whether they really liked it or not. Lex had already seen at least half a dozen people faking joy at some useless junk they had been given, and knew he would most likely be forced to join that group when his turn came.

"Here you go, Smallville" Lois grinned as she passed Clark his gift and the room watched with earnest as the farmboy unwrapped a plaid shirt.

"Oh, so original" said a voice and Lex was a little startled to see someone standing beside him since he'd barely noticed their arrival at all.

"It is concerning that cheap gifts are always suffixed with 'it's the thought that counts', since the thought going into that particular less-expensive present had to have been minimal if not non-existent" Lex agreed, as he smiled down on the blonde who had appeared there, "How are you, Miss Sullivan?"

"I'm good" Chloe nodded once, "I would ask you the same, Lex, but obviously you're not so great today or you would've remembered my name is Chloe" she said smartly, making him smirk, as they continued their whispered conversation, as more gifts were given.

"I apologise, Chloe" he said immediately, "I would offer to buy you a coffee to recompense my error but unfortunately..."

"The festivities are more important than the beverages" she nodded knowlingly, "Yeah, I get it. I had kind of hoped this very Lana tradition would be a no go now Mrs Kent was running the place, but I guess she's as much of a holidays person as our Miss Lang"

"So it would seem" Lex agreed, "but you're not?" he checked, looking a little bemused.

They'd talk about a lot of things over the Summer, and Lex felt he'd gotten to know Chloe pretty well at the safe house, but the holidays was a topic that had never been broached. Whilst he knew she'd suffered the loss of her mother as he had, albeit with hers walking out whilst his had not chosen to go, he couldn't imagine that alone would cause her to dislike Christmas. She was a teen with a doting father and many friends, what wasn't to love?

"The commercial thing makes me mad" Chloe shook her head, "You _must_ buy expensive gifts, you _must_ have the biggest tree" she explained, "Red and green in every window punching you in the face - you _must_ love Christians, you _must_ love Christmas" she rolled her eyes, "I guess I just like to do things my own way without having it forced on me" she told him, as Lex's attention was briefly stolen by Mandy receiving her gift.

Chloe watched Lex's expression and knew he was the one to pay for the gift, though not the actual person to choose the pink set of toiletries. Mandy looked thrilled where Chloe herself would have been mortified but then every person had different tastes, and the world would be a boring place if they didn't.

"Isn't it wonderful to have staff that understand each other?" Chloe smirked as Lex glanced her way, and they both knew what she meant.

Unfortunately, Lex was not given a chance to say anything as the next gift was taken from the pile and Lois announced that the tag bore his own name.

"Thank you" he said, somewhat stiffly as he took the small parcel from his newest waitress, and set to unwrapping it.

No-one appeared hugely interested in what the wrapping paper contained and the fun was soon moving on without Lex. It didn't bother him at all, it only meant less people would be watching when he faked surprise and joy at the sight of a new pen or a keychain that was considered expensive by others and was just another knick-knack to lose by the man that had pretty much everything. The billionaire was only mildly surprised to find the box he uncovered ought to contain a watch. He couldn't believe anyone had actually spent so much money for a game where the budget was set low enough to include everyone in town. Surely a different gift had been put in this type of box just to confuse, but no. His gasp was very nearly audible to the entire room, and definitely to Chloe who hovered beside him still as he prised open the lid and looked inside.

"This is incredible" Lex shook his head, hardly able to believe the sight that met his eyes.

The watch was not expensive in any real sense, though it looked pretty good in its relative mediocrity. What had him stunned was the face which had clearly been put in there by design. Somehow an ordinary time piece had been made into something very special, for the face was fashioned like a coin, not dissimilar to the Napoleon watch his mother had given him years before. This coin wasn't real, just a facsimile of something worth millions and held only in museums - a gold coin bearing a depiction of the head of Alexander the Great.

"Wow, somebody really likes you" Chloe told Lex, as he glanced her way a moment and then back at the gift he had just received.

"Apparently so" he agreed with a vague nod, mind still reeling as to where this had come from, why and how.

He and Clark were close, like brothers even, but the farmboy would not be thoughtful enough to think of this. There was Lana, but she'd been gone from their lives for weeks now and barely a postcard had come from France, besides this was a gift from Secret Santa... Lex's eyes darted around the room and a hundred faces he didn't even know, and of those he did, not one fit the bill for such a thing.

"I mean, it's not like that coin is real or anything, it couldn't be" Chloe said by his side, catching Lex's attention once again.

Her smile as well as her words made him wonder, but what she said next left no doubt in his mind.

"Still, it took a little work, calling in a few favours..." she admitted, a smirk on her face to rival his own because she knew she'd surprised him and pleased him and a hundred other things all at the same time.

For once in his life, Lex was very nearly lost for words. Nobody, not since his mother, had been so thoughtful in buying him a gift. Why Chloe should feel the need to do such a thing, he barely let himself dare to dream, but it thrilled him none the less.

"Chloe, thank you so much" he said genuinely, a smile on his face as he ensured no-one was paying great attention and reached to squeeze her hand in his, "but really, it's just Secret Santa, you shouldn't've..." he stopped when he had to, interrupted by Martha Kent reading out Chloe's own name as the recipient of the next gift.

"Who said anything about Secret Santa?" the blonde shrugged her shoulders, the smirk still playing at her lips as she stepped up to receive her own present from beneath the tree.

Lex watched dumb-struck a moment longer, as Chloe whispered to her cousin and Lois got a deep frown on her face.

"Oh, okay" she said, as she picked up another gift and held it out to the billionaire, "Somehow Mr Fancy Pants got two gifts from Secret Santa" she said, looking unimpressed, "Any idea how that happened, Lex?" she checked.

Lex took the new package out of her hands without seeing her or the gift. His eyes locked on to Chloe's own as she smiled at him from across the room. This badly wrapped gift in his hand now, this was part of the event he had come here for. The box that still sat in his other hand, the beautiful, thoughtful, more expensive watch, that was different.

Though he gave Lois some vague answer to her question, his eyes never left Chloe's face even as she ducked away, trying hard not to blush. He'd figured it out, and she knew it. It had taken a little longer than she'd thought it might, and longer than Lex would've hoped she was sure, but he knew now. She had bought the watch, not for Secret Santa but to show him how much she cared about him, liked him, maybe even more than that since Lex couldn't let himself believe such a gift was bought out of pure friendship, especially not given the way Chloe was gazing his way right now.

"Merry Christmas" she said silently from across the room, something Lex repeated almost on automatic since he was still quite overwhelmed.

Chloe considered she'd got him the greatest gift for Christmas, and she was right, just not in the way she thought. The watch was beautiful and would be a symbol that Lex would treasure always, but that wasn't the real point here. Chloe had proven with her present to him that she cared about him, maybe even loved him with the same amount of feeling he harboured for her, and had kept silent about too long. Her love for him would be the greatest Christmas gift he could ever receive, that and the knowledge that she believed he was worthy of her love. It was all he would ever need.

- The End -


End file.
